Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,063,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 115,109 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $9,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.9% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 48,584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 46,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.2% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 9.0% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 2,382 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 4.6% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 55,522 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.31.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ARI opened at $10.10 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 46.13 and a current ratio of 46.13. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.44 and a one year high of $11.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.97 and a beta of 1.74.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a negative net margin of 35.84% and a positive return on equity of 9.11%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.91%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -108.69%.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Profile

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires, invests in, and manages commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.